Wyoming Framework Water Plan - Living Rivers Home Page

4.0 AGENCY PLANNING RECOMMENDATIONS
In addition, developing partnerships with industries to construct new storage should be pursued.
The Program’s role in such partnerships would be to assist in the permitting of the project and invest in a
portion of the storage for purposes of supplemental municipal and irrigation supplies.
Much of the permitted capacity in existing reservoirs is eroding due to the accumulation of
sediment. Given the value of storage to the state and the fact that many dams fill only in wet years,
perhaps the State’s one-fill rule should be revisited to allow dam owners to ensure that the total permitted
capacity is either used or stored.
New Development Program
Wyoming statutes provide guidance regarding the priorities for projects to be funded under the
New Development Program. The statutes advise that the New Development Program should emphasize
the development of unappropriated flow. The recent increases in demand on the Program and increased
construction costs have caused the WWDC to begin discussions regarding the prioritization of projects
when funds are limited. When funds are limited, projects that address public health and safety issues
should be a priority.
Historically, the Program has promoted the regional approach to solving municipal and domestic
water supply problems. This approach serves to reduce costs and promote efficiency and should continue
in the future.
Rehabilitation Program
Funding for the Rehabilitation Program is also being stressed by increased demands and
construction costs. Interest in the Program is evidence that the state’s water infrastructure is aging. When
funds are limited, projects that address health and safety issues, as well as projects in immediate need of
repair and replacement, should be priorities.
Transbasin Diversion Projects
Anytime water planners discuss the long-range future, the issue of transbasin diversions arises.
Such discussions tend to predispose what the future may bring in terms of the highest and best use of the
water for the benefit of the State of Wyoming. We simply do not presently have the foresight to suggest
that the water may be better utilized in one particular water basin than another. Some basic tenets need to
be established to guide such discussions. First, there should be assurance that the water basin that would
receive the water has effectively developed and is using the supplies available in-basin before transbasin
diversions should be considered. In the event a transbasin diversion project is pursued, any resulting
impacts to the basin providing the water must be mitigated.
Drought
The prior appropriation doctrine mandated by Wyoming water law serves as a very good tool to
manage drought as it determines who gets water when the supply is limited. It is not practical to expect
the Program or any other state or federal program to hold Wyoming water users harmless from priority
water rights administration in a drought like we are presently experiencing. Water users must continue to
look at their own operations in order to mitigate the impacts of drought. Some examples:
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